that a believer should overcome, than it is of his own. O! what songs to the faithfulness of Christ, what songs to his love, shall be sung that day, when the precious troops of his saints shall return from the day of judgment, and that general infair shall be of all those that have been begotten unto a lively hope, when they shall convey Christ home, through the ports of the New Jerusalem, every one having the harp of God in his hand, and shall cry out, Hallelujah, hallelujah, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. That song shall have no period, though it have a

beginning.

There is this, likewise, which pointeth forth the certainty of overcoming, Christ hath overcome, and therefore a Christian shall overcome. It was the sweet divinity of the apostle Paul, Heb. ii. 9, 10, there is a promise, saith he, that all things shall be put under our feet, but we see not that promise yet accomplished, saith he : I see one thing accomplished, which is a pledge of it, I see Jesus Christ, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and with majesty. Christ is in heaven, and we must be there. And that word, John xvi. 33, Be of good cheer, saith he, for I have overcome the world; which is a pledge and certain token that ye shall once overcome.

There is this, likewise, which pointeth forth their certainty of overcoming, that the same power which was exercised in bringing Christ from death, and in making him to overcome principalities and powers, is communicated to believers, to make them overcome; as it is clear from Eph. i. 19, 20, where it is said, That power that wrought mightily in Christ, to raise him from the dead, doth also work in those that believe. O Christians! heirs of the grace of life, believe this, that Omnipotence is engaged on your behalf; and have you not learned the first point of the creed, That there is nothing impossible to God? And so when you are constrained sometimes to cry out, Who shall stand before the children of Anak? content yourselves with this, that there is nothing too hard for him.

And there is this, lastly, which points it out, that divine and invisible knot of union that is betwixt Christ and his members. Is Christ above? The members must follow. For ye know, though Christ be the fulness of the saints, yet the saints are the fulness of Christ there is a mutual fulfilling and accomplishing each one of another; know ye not that word, That where I am, there they may be also? I think, of all the words that Christ ever spoke to the Father, that word was the most imperious and commanding-like word, which he hath, John xvii. 24, I will, saith he, that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. It was not his prayer which came that length, he willed it, and would not be contradicted: and certainly, there is nothing that may comfort you in the hour of trial so much as this, Christ is upon his way to relieve you; and ye are upon your way of overcoming. And I shall only say that word, which ought to be your practice, 1 John v. 18, Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not; and that wicked one toucheth him not that ordinary expression which you have, you should not rub clothes with him, nor touch him. And to those that are walking in the broad paths of sin, I shall only speak that to you, which is, Job

:

xxi. 20, His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. Your eyes and your taste shall be satisfied; and that word, which is in verse 30, He shall be reserved to the day of destruction; or as the words in the original, He shall be reserved to the day of wrath; as it were, there shall be a combination of wrath and justice that shall seize upon you. Now to him who is upon his way, who shall come, and will not tarry, whose reward is with him, we desire to give praise.

SERMON VIII.

GAL. v. 24. And they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.

CHRISTIANITY doth consist in a blessed change of affections: a souldying in its affections and respects to all things that are here below; and living and advancing in its desires towards him, who is that blessed and universal Good. It ought to be that arch-plot and great design, that Christians ought to promove, to attain to that original unity, which once was in man's affections toward God. O! what blessedness did Adam enjoy, while he did stand in that estate wherein he was created, he having a blessed harmony of all his affections towards God; and likewise, there being a most divine correspondence and blessed familiarity betwixt heaven and earth, betwixt him that sitteth on the throne, and the foot-stool; but that was most eminently verified, that man, being in honour, did not abide. O! what anxious and perplexing thoughts had poor Adam, no doubt, some hours after his fall, when he did reflect upon that which was once his condition, and did compare it with that which was now his lot: might he not take up that lamentation over himself, Man, in his best estate, is altogether vanity? And likewise, he might have that proverb taken up of himself, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? Now, man, by losing that blessed unity that was in his affections, hath contracted a woeful and infinite diversity in his affections towards the things that are here below: so that those affections which did once sweetly run in one channel toward God, are now divided and separated in many channels, toward those things that are below him: and there is nothing beneath the sun, that leadeth captive so many of our desires, as the world : therefore it is your advantage to be crucified to the world, and to have the world crucified to you; that you may discover that endless vanity, and unspeakable vexation of spirit, that is in all things that are here. The world is a perfect compend and complete epitome of all misery: God himself is the compend of all blessedness; so that there is nothing that we can take up under this, but it is most eminently in him. It is a duty which is much undervalued in these days, for Christians to be promoving in that blessed work of having themselves crucified to the world, and having the world crucified to

them. O! how suitable is this duty for those who are heirs and expectants of that blessed hope, and everlasting enjoyment of being with God, who is the Judge of all flesh, and with Jesus Christ, who is the Mediator of the new covenant, and with the innumerable company of holy angels, and to be made heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Is it not below you to be much taken up in your vain and anxious pursuits after these things that are below? The objects of the desires of your immortal spirits, ought to be more high than things below, and ought to be more divine than things human; your affections ought to be ascending as pillars of smoke, and ye should be breathing after that blessed day, when there shall be a confinement of all your affections on him. We have on some occasions spoken unto you of the grace of humility, and of the grace of love, the one teaching us to undervalue ourselves, the other teaching us to value God. And had you been much taken up in the spiritual and lively exercise of these, there should not have been much difficulty to persuade you at this time. We shall not insist long in telling you what mortification is; it is a constant and blessed endeavour of the Christian, to remove out of his way all those impediments that do interrupt the exercise of love. As likewise, it is that which entertaineth a constant and perpetual antipathy and holy indignation against every thing through which his conformity with God, and that perfect likeness and similitude with his Maker, might be in any way impaired. 2. Mortification doth not consist in those unconstant and unequal exercises of mortifying our lusts; it consists not in these violent flashes of holy zeal and indignation against our iniquities; for though that indignation be violent for its time, yet it doth quickly evanish and pass away: but that grace of mortification must be a constant and daily exercise; we will solace ourselves in the chambers of our imagery, by beholding our idols pourtrayed upon the wall; we will study to receive satisfaction in our apprehensions, when we cannot receive satisfaction in the actual fruition of them: such is likewise the woeful desperateness of the heart of the children of men, that when God had put a worm to the root of that gourd under the shadow of which we used to solace ourselves, we cry out of a discontented humour, It is better for us to die, than to live. O! there are many here, to whom it would be death to out-live their idols; their idols and they are pleasant in their lives, and they desire not to be divided in their deaths. 3. Mortification doth not consist in that partial and divided way of mortifying our corruptions; we taking vengeance upon some of our lusts, but with Saul, sparing that which is the king; Naaman the Syrian must have an indulgence of his bowing his knee in the house of Rimmon; Lot must plead for the sparing of Zoar, that small thing; and so when we are intending that work of mortification, we plead for the sparing of these things which we call Zoars, these small, but our master-corruptions. tainly that evangelical mortification which is required of us, doth not consist in this; for we must intend an universal separation betwixt us and all our idols; we must cast away all our idols to the moles and to the bats, and we must defile the covering of them, and he alone must be the cover of our eyes. He never knew what the grace

Cer

of mortification meant, who never set about the accomplishment of the ruin of that great and master-idol which domineereth over him. And we conceive that the best and most solid way of knowing our growth in mortification, is by reflecting upon the decay of those idols, which are our predominants; other sins which assail us, may decay, and their strength wax weak, and yet mortification not be on the growing hand; for there are many of our lusts, that rather die by concession, than by constraint; there are many of our idols, that rather go out of us, than are cast out.

Now the first thing that a Christian ought to endeavour to mortify is, his love to the world, which was the practice of this holy man : in the words, he pointeth out unto us that way wherein he did attain to this complete and spiritual mortification to the world, holden forth to us in these words, By whom which doth relate unto Jesus Christ, who is made mention of in the words going before: or, as the words may be rendered, By which I am crucified to the world : and so they relate unto the cross of Jesus Christ. Now under this notion of being crucified, he doth certainly hold forth unto us that great difficulty that is in accomplishing the work of mortification : and under this name of being crucified, he holdeth forth uuto us the longsomeness of the time we must spend before we can attain complete mortification; crucifying being one of the most painful and slow of all violent deaths: mortification is not a work of one day, it will cost us many days, and years, before we shall crush the head of him, who hath so oft-times crushed our heel, before that blessed promise shall be fulfilled, that all things shall be put in subjection unSin doth most easily invade us, and take possession of us, but it is not so easily dispossessed; for except we had the infinite strength of him who is Jehovah, we might sit down and close our hands, and never mint to oppose these idols, under whose subjection we are. This word of being crucified, doth likewise hold forth the painfulness and uneasiness of this work of mortification; crucifying being a death, amongst all violent deaths, one of the most bitter: we must certainly be mortified to our ease, before we can be mortified to our lusts; we must travail in birth, before the grace of mortification can be formed in us. It is a woeful evil in these days, that the most part of people walk under this apprehension, that there is not much difficulty to mortify their corruptions; but it is a token, that they never knew what it was to mortify them, who never knew the difficulty of mortification.

to us.

The third thing that is holden forth under this name of being crucified is, that woeful reluctancy and indisposition of spirit, which we have to this blessed exercise of mortifying our corruptions: we have as great unwillingness unto it, as though we were to subject ourselves to some violent death. O! how are vanity and corruption joined to the spirits of the sons of men? How loath are we to have that woeful and accursed union betwixt us and our lusts dissolved? O how many orators and procurators within ourselves, have we to plead for this, the sparing of our lusts? We may be persuaded of this, that if we be not the ruin of our iniquity, iniquity will certainly be our ruin. O! how may we blush and be confounded seven days,

that we should be so loath to have a separation betwixt us and these things, by which our distance with God, and estrangement from him, is so much increased? This vanity is unspeakable, that we should be so averse from that wherein our eternal blessedness doth lie, in having that woeful band, which we have wreathed about our own necks, taken off by that blessed and everlasting hand of him, who hath died, and risen again, to accomplish this blessed design.

Lastly, under this word of being crucified, is held forth unto us, that complete and spiritual mortification to the world, that this holy man attained to, he was as one dead to these things; he was not much exercised in joy, in having the world: neither was he exercised in grief, by wanting the things of the world; he was a man dead, which could not be moved by any of those things: we do not say so, that Paul was altogether a stoick, without all passions of grief and sorrow, or of joy; but we only say this, that he did not grieve for the want of the world, as those who have no hope; neither did he so joy in having the world, as those who have not a more divine and high spring of consolation; he was clothed with a holy indifferency, and a blessed neutrality, in having or wanting these things: it was none of Paul's desire to have the world; he had learned that divine and excellent art of being content with every state of life. He knew not what it was to murmur. And it were certainly much our advantage to be provoked to jealousy, when we reflect upon the practice of this holy man. I conceive, that if all that are here would examine themselves, by how many degrees their mortification to the world doth come short of this, they might sit down and conclude with themselves, that they are yet to begin to mortify: yea, there are many here, to whom we may say that they are so far from being clothed with a holy indifferency, in having the things of the world, that they are clothed with that woeful and indispensible necessity in pursuing after these things: this is the language of the most part, Give, give: men hurrying themselves in multitudes of hopes, and of fears, and of expectations, and likewise an infinite number of desires: and what is the end and result of all these things, but vanity and vexation of spirit.

Now that you may be helped to attain this concerning-duty, to be mortified to the world, we shall propose these things unto you; the first is this, to be much taken up in a holy contemplation and spiritual beholding of those unsearchable excellencies that are in God. If once the soul of the creature were elevated to behold him, there should not be much difficulty to be mortified to the world: were we once admitted to draw by a lap of the veil, and behold that uncreated glory, and inexpressible majesty that is treasured up in him, mortification should be no great difficulty unto us: this is clearly held forth here, for Paul doth tell by whom he had this grace of mortification, it was by beholding that pleasant plant of renown, Jesus Christ: this is clear likewise, 1 John v. 5, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Did we once believe that fundamental article of faith, that he who was crucified upon the tree, was the real Son of God, we should most easily win to this concerning-duty of mortification. We